Lisbeth Salander is a wanted woman. Two Millennium journalists are murdered and Salander's fingerprints are on the weapon. Her history of unpredictable behaviour makes her the official suspect, but no-one can find her. Salander may be an expert at staying out of sight, but she also has ways of tracking down her most elusive enemies.

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Lisbeth Salander is a wanted woman. Two Millennium journalists are murdered and Salander's fingerprints are on the weapon. Her history of unpredictable behaviour makes her the official suspect, but no-one can find her. Salander may be an expert at staying out of sight, but she also has ways of tracking down her most elusive enemies.

This was another great listen. I enjoyed it more than the first in the trilogy, but that is purely personal preference. The tone of this one is not quite as dark as the first, and as a result lacks some of the tension, but I thought the overall plot was more interesting. This may be because we learn more about Lisbeth, and she's more present in this novel than in the first.

Again, Larsson is devoted to a lot of minute detail. Easily bored readers may find that parts of this novel seem sort of out of place, especially as there are a number of episodes that aren't related to the overall mystery. I personally enjoyed all of the threads that weave through this novel, because they are so expertly character driven. Sadly, it appears the audio version of the third book in the trilogy will be abridged.

If I have one complaint, it's that the translator makes a few mistakes in his choice of certain English words, with slightly amusing results, e.g. "noisome."

Saul Reichlin is excellent again as the narrator. This is exactly the sort of narration I look for in an audiobook, rather than a dramatization of the work. As I said in my review of the first book, I think he captures the characters' voices perfectly, without affectation or awkwardness.

You've read all the rave reviews; believe them! These books (The Trilogy) are fabulous.
But let me praise the narrator, Saul Reichlin. He brought the books to life in a wonderful way. He made it easy to distinguish between the characters, despite a variety of accents (Swedish, Irish, Australian, Russian, etc.) and he did it without making them into caricatures.
As I discussed the books with friends, I would mention a name and they would often say "is that how you pronounce it?". Mr. Reichlin not only made these books a pleasure to listen to, he made me confident pronouncing more-than-difficult Swedish names and places!
Buy the book, and enjoy.

I enjoyed this second book almost as much as the first one, but not quite.
Narration was top notch even though it was funny to hear Saul Reichlin trying to do the high pitch voice of the blond giant : )

I enjoyed it as much as the first book ! I wanted a bit more at the end, it almost feels like you need the third, hope I wont feel the same at the end of the third but I still can't wait to read the third.

I can't say I enjoyed this book as much as the first. I found it dragged for me a little at times and wasn't hooked like his first novel. I also found the way he describes every computer in a scene [model number, amount of ram, hard drive size, monitor size] annoying and unnecessary. Despite all of this I did enjoy the book...just not as much as I expected.

You know how the second book in a trilogy is often just a bridge between the first and the third, well this isn't the case here. Crash, bang, wollop - that's pretty much the pace from the start of this book, and the action continues straight through to the end.

In some respects this story is more about the Lisbeth character and helping us understand what makes her tick and why. This coupled with a very strong storyline makes for compelling reading.

You can't complete a review of this book without praising Saul Reichlin's incredible narration, he really is first class.

Having recently finished listening to the first book in this series, 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo', I held my breath and immediately dived back in with this, the second. I am glad to say that I found it at least as good as the first, and some of the unanswered questions about Lizbet Salander's past became clearer as the story unfolded. The characters were further developed, with, I am glad to say, Blomkvist allowed to grow more in the second part of the book. If you have read the first book, then you know to expect rather explicit descriptions of violence, and this book also contains similar material. Once again, impeccably read by Saul Reichlin, who has to be complimented on getting his tongue around all the Scandinavian place names with great dexterity.
Some nice twists towards the end! I highly recommend.

81 of 81 people found this review helpful

Sarah

Grange-over-Sands, United Kingdom

10/6/09

Overall

"Brilliant! Crime fiction as it should be."

I loved the previous book, and this is even better. Lisbet is the focus here, which is great from my point of view. She is the most unusual character I've ever encountered in this sort of fiction. She's become a bit of a Goddess in our household, we could only cheer on her almost crazy, vengeful spirit; all in the right cause. We have listened to the two books a couple of times now, and new things come up with the second hearing. Yes, there is violence, but it is not gratuitous. I love the fine detail, I love not knowing which character or bit of info is improtant to the 'crime'; it feels much more realistic, though never boring. The success of these books should be a lesson to all editors; I dread to think how mauled they would have been if an editor had cut them down to size. (I am assuming there was little chance for editing before publication due to what happened to the author). These books are not the usual easy read/listen, you will need a bit more attention, but in my opinion totally worth it! The two readings are in my top five best listens on Audible.

26 of 26 people found this review helpful

Gilbert

Cupar, Fife, United Kingdom

1/25/11

Overall

"The Steig Larsson Trilogy"

The three books of this trilogy are among the best I have read. Lisbet Salander is one of the most unusual heroines and the stories are dramatic

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

Kathryn

Whitchurch, Shropshire, United Kingdom

7/22/10

Overall

"Great book"

Great book, facinating follow on to the Girl with the dragon tattoo. I didnt think that this would be as enjoyable as the first one - how wrong was I. I couldnt stop listening.

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

Niall

Longniddry, East Lothian, United Kingdom

6/25/10

Overall

"Superb...!"

A brilliant second installment following on from where Tattoo left off. Listen in order, it's very important.
Highly recommend.

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

Kirstine

Bonnyrigg, United Kingdom

8/2/09

Overall

"Very complicated, but ultimately satisfying story"

I hadn't realized that this book is the sequel to the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. If I'd read/listened to the latter I might not have found that for the first five or six chapters I was confused by the complexity of the narrative as it moved between different countries, introduced many characters and switched back and forth in time. Once the story settled in Sweden the sheer number of characters with unfamiliar sounding names and locations I didn't recognize continued to make the story a taxing one to follow, however the main thrust of the narrative kept me listening and the outstanding performing skills of Saul Reichlin helps greatly in identifying who is whom. I knew in advance that this reader is one of the best from his work on David Hewson's Rome series.

25 of 28 people found this review helpful

Cindy

LondonUnited Kingdom

8/14/10

Overall

"The Girl Who Played with Fire"

These days I rarely find a book I can't put down. It had me nearly missing my tube stop with the exciting story line. I got so involved with the main character Lisbeth Salander that I was worrying about her in between listens! I am going to keep the third in the series until my holiday in three weeks time, if I can wait that long!

10 of 11 people found this review helpful

Mr K Burgess

8/5/10

Overall

"Disappointing"

I really enjoyed his first book and looked forward to the second, but this one is too 'James Bondish' with so many unbelievable co-incidences. I have hired cars around the world, including Sweden, but have yet to find one with a convenient coil of rope in the boot for tying up baddies. Probably works better as a 2 hour DVD rather that a 25 hour audiobook.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Tricia

Exmouth, Devon, United Kingdom

7/5/10

Overall

"The Girl who played with fire"

Just as compelling and fascinating as the first book of the series. Took me several days to get the characters out of my everyday head! The way it is read is so good and so descriptive. Just now making space for the third book and then I might have to go back to the beginning! Highly reccomended.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Taina

Vaasa, Finland

4/14/13

Overall

"Second part of the best crime novel series ever"

Every bit as good as the first book in the series. I took lots of long walks with my dog to have an excuse to listen to this for hours. I just love the characters, too, they feel very real. The books in this series are so good that I haven't felt like reading or listening to any other crime novel since (apart from one try), because they'll inevitably be a disappointment.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

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